Duplicity

it's quite common nowadays to have multiple gadgets. especially since it's rumored that Apple finally decided to get it off its pedestal and start taking Samsung on where it matters the most -- the middle class.

we should expect the newer, low-end phone to hit the stores later on this year. but currently, the focus is on how Apple is struggling to make a comeback from its recent defeat from Samsung. they say that the new iPhone 6 will be featuring a fingerprint scanner.

the benefits of that feature would mostly be on security, but hopefully they also get on with their newer OS which should provide a fresher look to what has been branded as an "old" operating system. (i'm actually looking forward to updating when it happens).

now on to the subject of this post.

there is no doubt that if Apple decides to release this more affordable phone, it would trigger a buying frenzy from the emerging middle class. suddenly, the revered iPhone is "affordable" and definitely "within reach".

unconfirmed concept for iPhone 6: potential Samsung-killer
(this thing would be fun though)

expect people who already have an iPad, or iPod, to make this purchase on top of those who have already decided to switch systems from Android.

but how much do we really need this duplicity in gadgets?

because Apple has created a cult following, it's no surprise that there are already people who have an iPad, iPod, iPhone, and Mac in their homes. and then they buy nother Apple product.

i really don't get it. i already have an iPad and i'm happy with it. but i don't really see myself buying an iPhone. of course, i may change my mind in the future but for now, i don't see the point beyond everything being "in synch".

i guess my point is this.. if you have an iPad, try courting an Android system. that way, we get to enjoy both sides of this technology war going on. i just see this "loyalty" thing leaving us missing out on what the other system is capable of doing. and vice versa.

that way, we avoid a duplicity.

unless, of course, you're planning to have Plants vs Zombies, Candy Crush, Spartan Wars, Clash of Clans, or Zombie Tsunami on all your gadgets and using different accounts.

well, if you're into that kind of thing.. that's a different story.

Quickest Way to Un-Scare Yourself

i finally gathered the courage to watch the Conjuring. and frankly, i was a bit disappointed. judging from the cinematography alone, it was amazing how they were able to utilize long, tracking camera shots to give then sense of continuity in the scary parts. they avoided switching to too many angles when they were putting up a scare. and the result? you end up holding your breath for an extra few seconds that literally magnifies the punch.

i've also been reading in my newsfeed about some people not being able to sleep well as they tend to imagine a clapping sound or moving chair. so, here's the quickest way to un-scare yourself..

---watch the BEHIND THE SCENES.

and i ask: why do people always go down basements alone?

(not the BTS but probably the scariest scene for me.)

not only will this dissipate whatever fear that was embedded by that scene as it plays over and over in your head, but it also reminds us that it was fall fake. worth noting, too, is that the movie was loosely based on the story. but the actual story could be quite scarier if you read the transcript of what and how everything really transpired. (a copy of which can be easily found everywhere on the net.)

and....... since we're on the topic, here's one movie i genuinely got scared off into dreamland. and the best part is, it's a sequel! they're probably riding off the trail set by the Conjuring while it's still hot. i got high expectations for this one! hope it doesn't disappoint the genre!

not exactly the greatest inheritance ever.

Meet a Hero

we often rummage through life in everyday routines and patterns that there seem to be almost no way of telling one day from another. but in one of those more lucid days when we get to pause for a bit and appreciate our surroundings, that's when we realize a few things. we get to notice how some people actually work actively behind the scenes to make sure our days go on the way they should.

and if you've ever taken up Histology, Microbiology, Parasitology, Embryology, and the ever favorite Pathology, then i'm sure you've met this one hero of mine.

i want you to meet Mang Rakel, or "Dok Rakel" as we fondly call him.

Mang Rakel was actually the first person who taught me how to get comfortable with the microscope again. yes, i was a bit clumsy just getting off a four-year hiatus from any scholarly work and i did get scolded a lot by this man, but he is one of my heroes.

in one of the rare conversations we had, i recall that he started out at Far Eastern University before changing lanes and moving on towards the Fatima College of Medicine.

found him as he was leaving for good.

(l-r: moi, dok rakel, and the photobomber stool)

he may not look much because of his small frame and very hardworking demeanor, but this man has is actually quite accomplished. and there are only few ways to measure a man, one of which is how he has reared his family.

i believe he has supported his children all the way through college because of his job. if i'm not mistaken, Mang Rakel has two medical technologists and one engineer under his belt. 

i'm not really aware of his entire story but his humble and focused persona has been a source of inspiration of mine. sadly though, i met him a few weeks ago as he was just on his way out. he was now retiring with a solid twenty years of service to his name. and unblemished, too, if i may add.

i'm just so glad to have been able to meet this favored man, and hope to bring my anecdotes of him as i journey towards this exciting path of medicine that lies before me.

thank you so much, Mang Rakel! and God bless you perpetually! 

The New Frontiers

and no, i'm not talking about that pickup. 

most of us after graduation really tend to proceed with the natural flow of things. there's never really a definite way, but the process goes along something like this;

graduate, look for a job (or licensure if necessary), earn well, get a high-powered promotion, acquire some company stock, and retire. somewhere along that line, we're supposed to have raised a family and also grabbed a couple of real estate here and there. funny though, school never taught us how to create wealth. just a thought. 

puwede nang panlaban kay Maring. 

(turns out, the new nissan frontier is now known as the navara.)

but a few years down the line, there will always be that feeling of stagnancy. it's like you haven't been learning. you will actually begin to miss school (and allowance, never a bad thing), showing up late, finding out they had a quiz, and punish yourself for snoozing again and again.

there are some of us who are really familiar with this process. and that's why we need to always make sure we are in a continuous state of learning. it could be about anything, and everything.

on the quest of becoming a more well-balanced development, i've realized there are some areas in my life that really needed some more work. wrote everything down and here are some of the new things i need to get myself into:

1. hacking - we're in a more digital world, and we know it. in the information age, the prime citizen is said to be the netizen. he's supposed to be one who's now in the possession of more information than any other person before him. and that entails risks. losing a password, getting hacked, and your privacy violated is just one of the many things that go along the territory. that's why we'd probably need some basic hacking skills. even basic defensive hacking will do. if there ever is one, that is!

2. photoshop - if you're into the whole 9gag culture, then chances are, you probably know how valuable photoshop is. but it doesn't end there. think about how many good times we've missed if we only knew how to really do photoshop. you know, those awkward photos that could've ended up as the next big meme. if we really knew how to photoshop, then we'd get our creativity going. that alone, is priceless.

3. filmmaking - before getting into med school, i had some decent time put in on deciding whether or not i should enroll in Bigfoot. it's this big time academy (and big time tuition, too.) where you get to be your own filmmaker. it's also supposed to be associated with Hollywood in some way. but i don't really have much details on that. thing is, if you ever get disappointed with how the quality of films seem to be deterioratingly revolving around the same teleserye-cum-movie, fantaseryes, or simple slapstick comedy, this could be something we can do in the future.

4. bartending - getting paid to party.. and it doesn't end there. i've never really met anyone who said knowing how to mix drinks wasn't cool. to some, this is a career choice, while someone like me could have this as a private hobby. every new drink is a unique experience. who knows, you might just end up winning a world competition with that little recipe for a drink you've been thinking about for some time now. and on the plus side, don't be surprised you get a ton of invites for the next parties if you churn out a winning drink for the last one.

5. programming - again, we are in the digital age. haven't you always wondered how to create your own app? i would seriously love an unsnoozable alarm app right now. haha writing code also has tons of other uses limited only by our imagination.

there you go! but don't get limited by my choices. make your own list and you might just be surprised what your next big frontier might be.  

Conjuring an Attack

unless you've been living under a rock (or studying medicine and erstwhile, living under a rock entirely), you may have come across this new movie that's been making rounds in the social media recently.

have you ever seen The Conjuring?

the story goes as it is set during the time before the more popular (or infamous?) Amityville murders took place, and it looks like it is quite promising.

never play with fire. 

(actual Annabelle, now housed in an occult museum.)

i have downloaded the movie (in HD! haha) but i haven't really decided if i'll be watching it, if i ever do. this is because i've once read in Christian-circle articles that movies (or any form of media and toys, for that matter), actually stir up something in the spiritual realm.

let me ask you; has there ever been a time in your life when you watched a horror movie (ergo, Insidious, The Blair Witch Project, The Exorcist , The Grudge, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, etc..) and when you were about to sleep, your mind suddenly goes amok?

you know what i'm talking about; it's cold in the middle of the night, the room's just goes mysteriously quiet.. or too quiet. you shift sleeping positions and try to sleep but someone (or something) seems to be "tickling" your legs, arms. and so you try to ignore the feeling or scratch it off. then you don't know why but suddenly you feel like something's sitting on your bed and looking at you?

too bad this movie isn't gonna make a lot of money. 

social media definitely killed this movie's bottomline

that's because, in the spiritual realm, movies like this open up a portal in our homes. and how do they attack us? they target where we are most vulnerable.. our mind.

and since we're on the subject, allow me to share what the three types of demonic attacks are:

1. the infestation - these are what happen when you see a haunted house, or any material thing, that can house demons. these are quite common today. (examples include cemeteries, old, gothic churches, schools and hospitals)

2. the oppression - these attacks happen usually in connections with an infestation. that's when they're called poltergeists. this results in actual (or mental) attacks. the person vulnerable to attacks usually ends up in with physical injuries like scratches, bruises, and in some cases, even rapes. (Succubus for the male rapes, and Incubus for the female rapes).

3. the possession - this is the most severe form of attack. and if you read the Scripture, not all demons are created equally. some are just more powerful than others. so when a weaker demon decides to attack someone, he gets his "friends" to help him do the job. and you know the results can be very devastating.

remember that these things are real. and if you believe in the existence of God, then you also believe these principalities are with us.

should we get scared? of course! but also keep in mind what Scripture says;

"You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in this world."

look it up on 1 John 4:4.

An Impending Crisis?

if the United States had Enron and the housing bubble, the European Union had Greece default, and China has the ghost cities to fuel its artificial economy, what do you think the Philippines has up for it?

i've been talking to my friends about it and i've found out that i'm not alone in this point of view.

if you recall a few years ago, we had we called the "nursing boom". this covered the period between 2004-2010 when nursing schools (and even underqualified ones) would sprout up everywhere like mushrooms.

Dr. Fabella Hospita -- dubbed as the busiest ward on the planet 

(3 mothers in 1 bed; 60 deliveries per day on average)

so when the US closed down (or more accurately, "trimmed down" its applicants), the market for the Philippine nurses decreased. though other countries were still as open as ever, most nurses had their eyes set on America. this led to the immediate increase in underemployment as these unemployed nurses sped towards the BPO industries.

so what has this to do with us now? the question is, "where did the other nurses go?"

think about where i am now and you will find the answer.. medical school.

this would be a natural thing since nurses are trained as allied health professionals. the country is known to have a major shortage in the supply of physicians. but where is this shortage? this can be found in the boondocks and wherever there is least access to a, hopefully working, health center.

but i think about it this way. my batch right now is roughly 300-350 students, which is a big cut from around 700 when we first started off. the batch a year below us is roughly 600, from 900. and lastly, the freshmen number to more than a thousand (though it wouldn't be far off to think the number would dwindle to around 800 come 2nd year or 3rd year).

put the numbers together and how much we get? at any given time, there are approximately 1,950 medical students in my school. multiply that to 37 other medical schools nationwide and what will we have?

a potential crisis. 

sure, i have no doubt some of these future physicians would end up "serving humanity" in the barrios and barangays across the country's 36,289-kilometer coastline. but how many hospitals do we have? how many residency programs are available? and how many slots are there available in these programs?

medical misson program with the F. & A.M. in Intramuros

(Aug. 18, 2013)

the numbers are clear. competition is getting tighter and tighter. all the more, we have to push harder. things will not be as easy as those among us have experienced. that is, of course, assuming what they did experience is relatively easier than what we will be going through.

in short, there are fewer residency programs than there are doctors.

battleplan --> excel in a well-rounded education, push academic and extra-curricular limits, get known among medical circles outside school, get a foreign clerkship (if possible), get creative in learning, maximize and incorporate nursing skills and experiences into medical practice, seek real-time training (no matter how limited, at first), pray with all our might,and greatest of all, submit to the will of the Father.

it will be hard. it will be rough. and some will play downright dirty. that's how things are. and they say..

"fortune favors the prepared mind". - Louis Pasteur (French microbiologist, chemist, and father of the Germ Theory of Disease)

My Father Speaks

since i moved to Manila a few years ago, it would naturally be my thing to think about my family more often. yes, my family may not be whole anymore but still, there are reasons to still not cringe about it.

growing up being focused in school, i somewhat had little time to bond with my father. but i did manage to round up a few things he told me which really stuck.

during one of our rare father-and-son drinking sessions, i always did ask him why some people were what they were. "anong ibig sabihin mo?", he said.

in all fairness, i did love this game (PS3, "bully" by Rockstar Games)

i asked him how come some people have a tendency to bully others. and when the bullied fight back, they end up the ones being branded "masama".

now, my dad, who is not only trained in law, has a master's in business administraion, but also happens to be a CSP (or, certified security professional as well), would have some good ideas.

"ganyan talaga.", he said. "uunahan ka nila. tapos kapag lumaban ka, sila pa ang magagalit."

so what do you make of that, dad?

"you know what that's called?"

i shrugged and had a smug.

"stupidity."

he has a point. 

My Hometown Hero!

The BIG MAN is gonna be ON-AIR 

(warning: this post is not about me. even though the pics might indicate otherwise. haha)

You know how i’ve always taken pride in working with the greatest kind of people. I have worked with countless of these greatest of talents in the REAL WORLD. Not just the ones in school (though school is where these people are bred and created), but those actually make things happen in the real world.

started as a summer jock of Monster Radio 99.5

Back in the days when i was still working with Monster Radio 99.5 (now Monster Radio BT 99.5 Davao), i was one of the trainees who was always being schooled (pun intended) on how things should be when you’re in the radio biz. I was so blessed to have the likes of Paul “the Wiggyman” Wiggy, Andy Silva, Russel Khai, and Jill Hernandez to mentor me in radio. Fyi, i did meet Kris Nelly a few times but i never really got to work with her.

But i have to admit, working at a radio station, i was always curious about how the other radio station worked. And how everyone in the whole Davao radio scene was talking about how amazing, good, and just downright ICONIC this guy, Sonny B. was (and still is.)

the big move to 105.9 MixFM

Safe to say, while staying with Monster Radio, i had this little teeny weeny secret of always listening to the other radio station, 105.9 MixFM in the mornings, just so i could listen to how this man really works.

Well, to say the least, he is one of the most amazing men to have ever graced Philippine radio. I bet he could even compete with the world’s best. He is OF the world’s best. I basically pushed all the buttons i can and would’ve literally given an arm just to be tutored by this great mover and shaker, which is why i grabbed every single opportunity coming to me when he was going to offer seminar-workshops about radio.

So.. why the write-up? Well, i’m so happy to share with everyone that the one person i consider my greatest mentor (who also trained Mo Twister, among others) will be joining the radio scene here in Manila once again.

It makes me feel more at home knowing that i can listen to HIM everytime he goes on air. Catch him and his amazing antics on K-Lite 103.5 FM every 6-9 in the morning. Btw, that’s the MORNING SHOW. And only the greatest of the greatest get to man the slot.

MANILA! WELCOME BACK, SONNY B.!!!! 

It all begins.

I don’t know what to say. This is somewhat strange even for someone like me who seems to always have something to say on anything. i promised myself i wouldn’t use the words “i guess” anymore on this blog but it just seems to be the most fitting.. too perfect, in fact. It’s a cross between wanting to write and say everything and keeping it simple the first time around. There are so many things i can write about today and i just feel like my mind is going dull not inscribing it.

But i love this  feeling. I love the freedom of being able to close your eyes and just let your fingers do all the work. Just letting the words flow and flow.. like how are thoughts are supposed to be..  “like the flowing river”, paolo Coelho would say so.

exactly how i wish my desk would look like right now

Currently, i’m inspired by how my friend made a tough and brave journey across this flooded lands. I’m also in between studying for all the lessons these coming midterms. But more importantly, i feel that i have found myself.. finally.

They say the most crucial of all journeys is beginning the first step. I did that. I did that a few years ago. I just forgot to take the second step. Then maybe someone should add to that adage.. 

"keep walking." -  Johnny walker.